What Eats Butterflies?

Mantis Eating a Monarch

There are many different creatures that make
butterflies part of their diet. While most
humans can not even imagine attempting to eat a
butterfly, there are many animals that need to
make a meal out of a butterfly to survive.

Some of the common predators of butterflies
include but are certainly not limited to: wasps,
ants,
parasitic flies, birds, snakes, toads, rats,
lizards, dragonflies
and even monkeys! A few of the other
animals that are constantly adding butterflies
onto their menu list are frogs and spiders.
These predators eat butterflies as butterfly
eggs, caterpillars and adult butterflies.

Crab Spider has Caught a Butterfly. See How Well The Spider Was Camouflaged in the Flower?

This frog at Dow Gardens Butterfly House is enjoying a snack. Photo courtesy Ellen Lucy

Now, when it comes down to eating
butterflies, there are two kinds of butterflies
that these predators will consume: a good
tasting butterfly or a bad tasting
butterfly. To keep from becoming a tasty
snack, some butterflies have developed a bad
taste to their bodies. Monarchs
taste bad because the caterpillars have eaten
milkweed. Once a bird tastes one, they donít
want to try another one. Another butterfly,
called the Viceroy, tastes good but looks so
much like a Monarch that birds wonít eat
it.

One thing that may be surprising to a lot of
people is that a few countries have butterflies
on their menu for humans to order! While most of
us are appalled to eat anything as beautiful as
a butterfly, there are quite a few countries
that see the butterfly as a delicacy.
Mexico, Africa and Southeast Asia are the few
countries that find butterflies to be a great
appetizer or dessert.

So, if you are a caterpillar or butterfly, how do you keep from getting eaten? One great way is to have fake eyes to trick predators into thinking you are something else! Hereís some more pictures on the NYTimes site.

This butterfly has a pattern that looks like it has a big eye.

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